Look for the Warrior

Perhaps before beginning to comment on the verse as a whole it would be good to look at what the Master means by “him.” Although the Master uses the singular term “him” in this section, two entities are spoken of, the singular form being used for two reasons: 1) you must first find one before finding the other, and 2) they are one in essence.

The mystery–at least to the limited human mind–of diversity in unity and unity in diversity, especially in relation to the duality/unity of God and individual spirits, has exercised the minds of higher philosophers of all ages and traditions. The wise have concluded that the “how” of this is simply beyond human comprehension, but they are unanimous in stating that this truth can be directly perceived through development of the consciousness within each one of us. In other words, the Reality that is the real nature of consciousness, finite and infinite, can be known through mystical experience.

It is imperative, then, that we keep in mind throughout the Master’s exposition that both God and man are being spoken of. Knowledge of God is impossible without the prerequisite of Self-knowledge. That is, the individual must come to know himself as finite eternal pure consciousness (spirit), drawing its existence from, and ever within, the infinite eternal pure consciousness that is God. Although the Master’s immediate message is the necessity for Self-realization, he is assuming that God-realization will be its natural corollary.

Nothing is automatic

“Look for the warrior and let him fight in thee.” The first point made by this simple statement is that the coming activity in the spirit is not going to be automatic. One of the illusions cherished by us in our egoic laziness is the idea that the day will come when we will spontaneously do the right things and accomplish what we should. We like this idea of spontaneity because it implies the lack of any effort on our part whatsoever. In other words, we do not want to row up the river, we want to drift down on the current. But this is an impossibility–especially for persons on the human rung of the evolutionary ladder.

To escape from the bondage of ignorance which prevails in this world, effort is needed until we draw our last breath. The strength for the effort is indeed drawn from the reservoir of God’s power, but the very drawing itself can be a labor for us. Every step on the path to reunion with God must of necessity be a conscious act of will.

Children of lies

Being of their father the devil, who is the father of lies (John 8:44) and a slanderous accuser (Revelation 12:10), many of those who observe us walking this path begin screaming about brainwashing, mind control, mental dominance, undue influence, loss of freedom of thought and will–in other words, all the “tools of the trade” of those who tread the path upon which they themselves–not us–are embarked. For it is the world that brainwashes us into acceptance of its illusions, that controls our minds in an endeavor to keep us from awakening and escaping its bondage, that demands that our minds be occupied continually with the struggle for survival and the distractions of earthly life, that warps our mind and makes it a complete slave to externality, and that renders us incapable of thinking or willing independently or contrary to the currents of earthly life. And those who are the slaves of this world and who to a greater or lesser degree consciously serve their Satanic master, work the same destruction upon their fellow human beings. Therefore when they see anyone attempting to escape from their nets of deception they begin accusing them of the very things which they are perpetrating on humanity. They express disgust, even horror and disbelief at every practice which works to free us from their domination, and try to convince others that it is we who are working their dark works.

However much the opposition may bellow, the disciple must–and does–follow the path of conscious choice. All along the way, the lorelei forces of ignorance call out to entice us with promises of ease, peace, and rest–if only we will step from the path and begin to drift with them. How enticing it is to the weary warrior at times! Our egos may clothe the desire for surrender in high-sounding terms of philosophy, but cowardly surrender it still remains.

A serious warning

The path of the disciple is not a weekend excursion, and those of shallow and short-lived motivation should not step upon it lest in time they fall to their greater destruction. This is a grave matter, and the Bible has this to say about it:

“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Matthew 12:43-55).

“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire”(II Peter 2:20-22).

“Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:5).

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:9).

The search

But it is assumed by the Master that those whom he addresses have determined to follow the path to its very end and beyond. So he exhorts them to look for the warrior. This search leads most people astray in the labyrinth of external existence–both material and psychic. Even a somewhat awakened soul may pass lifetimes plunging into the depths and scaling the heights of the material and psychic worlds seeking for power, seeking for knowledge, looking for that “warrior” which can win the victory over ignorance and bring enlightenment. The world could not hold the volumes that might be written to record these desperate searches, searches that by their very nature are doomed to fail. Why? Because they are searches outward rather than inward. There are two incidents that illustrate this very well. One is a kind of humorous parable and one is a “true life” experience. As might be expected, both are from India.

The parable

In earlier times (not really so long ago) devout Hindus used to walk the “pilgrim’s trail” which went in a great circle around the entire Indian subcontinent and connected a series of nearly seventy centers of great spiritual power. There was a man who spent some years on this ambitious pilgrimage, and everywhere he went he would buy an image of the presiding deity of that particular holy place. Finally, toward the end of his pilgrimage, he was staggering along carrying a large wooden box filled with dozens of holy images. Whenever he would stop for the night, he would spread them out, do worship to each in turn, and after several hours go asleep. When he awoke in the morning he would again perform worship of all for some hours, then wrap the images up, put them in the box, and labor onwards.

One day a wandering monk observed all this and said to him: “Why do you bother to worship all these deities? Why don’t you just worship the most powerful god, and then you will get the benefits you would have from worshipping such a multitude.” Then he quickly walked on. The man began to ponder how he could determine which was the most powerful deity. Not being very bright, he hit upon an interesting decision: he would take an image in either hand and crash them together as hard as he could. The image that did not break would be the most powerful deity. So he spent the next couple of hours smashing his images against one another. Since most of them were made of clay or brittle stone, and only one of them was made of metal, in time he was left with that alone. Happy that he had at last found which was the most powerful deity, he tucked it in his bundle of clothing and bedding, gave the wooden box a kick, and went on his way.

After reaching home, he expressed to his parents the desire to have his own household, so they arranged a marriage for him and in time he and his wife lived in their own house. Near the house he constructed a separate small hut in which he installed the deity and worshipped it daily, often boasting to his neighbors about his success in finding the most powerful of the gods. Understanding that meditation is important, he also began to meditate before the image after having first performed worship and–as is the custom in India–giving offerings of food to the deity.

Once as he was meditating, he heard sounds from the altar, and opened his eyes to see that the cat had knocked over the image and was eating the food. Rather than being enraged, he was delighted. Obviously the cat was a more powerful god than the one he had been bothering with! So he began to worship the cat and every day he put out food on the altar, the cat would eat it, and he would sit and meditate, visualizing in his heart the form of the cat.

After some time of this worship, he happened to see his wife shooing the cat away from the house. She whacked it with her broom and kicked it with her foot. The cat ran away, but the man ran and bowed before his wife. “You are greater than all the gods,” he told her, “even more powerful than the cat god.” So from then on he worshipped his wife. He would have her sit on the altar, and he would meditate on her.

It did not take long for her to get tired of this foolishness, so one day she refused to come and be worshipped. This made him so angry that he picked up a stick and threatened to beat her if she did not cooperate. Off she ran to the hut-temple.

As he put down the stick, he came to the realization that he must be more powerful than his wife, and therefore the greater god. He went and shooed her out of the hut, sat himself on the altar, and began to meditate upon himself. And, it is said, he attained enlightenment, for the true light is of course within.

The true story

A friend of mine from eastern India (Bengal) in his younger life had been a medical doctor with the British Army, although he was himself Indian. “I was a real sahib,” he laughed, “well booted, well suited, well hatted, and with my hair all cut and oiled like an Englishman.” Considering himself a man of science, he had no time for the “superstitions” of Hinduism or any other religion. All his attention was centered on his career and the support of his wife and their two children–a girl six years old and a boy two years old.

One morning upon arising he noticed that the children were not there. When he asked his wife about their absence, she carelessly answered: “Oh, they are off with their guru.” He was literally thunderstruck. In the Himalayan foothill region where he was then living it was not uncommon for children to wander off with the roaming monks who were continually passing through on pilgrimage. He began to shout at his wife: “Guru and kidnapper are the same thing! How could you let them go off like this?” His wife was not affected by his furor, and told him: “They only went out a short time ago, so why don’t you go after them?” This he did, though only half dressed.

He went rushing along looking into every street and alley, hoping to get a glimpse of his children. As he emerged from the end of the street at the edge of the town, he turned a corner and encountered an amazing spectacle. Walking along the road was an unusually tall Hindu monk dressed in the traditional orange robes. An immense beard covered the front of his chest, and long hair covered his back. Impressive as his appearance was, the doctor was most struck by another element of the scene. Two dozen or more children were walking along behind the swami in perfect order and silence–two elements usually missing in all levels of Indian life. His two-year-old son was holding on to the swami’s robe so he could keep up.

Not knowing what he was going to do or say, the doctor stepped out in front of the swami. “You have my children,” was what he said. The swami nodded. “Yes, do you want them back?” “No, they seem to be quite well with you,” was the automatic reply. Again the swami nodded. “Then come and see me tonight at my ashram.” Having received instructions as to the ashram’s location, the doctor went back home in a daze, dressed completely and went to his work.

That evening he went to visit the swami. “You are a medical doctor,” said the swami, “so I would like to ask you a medical question. What enables me to raise my hand?” As he said this he raised his hand. The doctor thought it was a silly question but answered: “You do so by a command of the conscious mind to which the nerves and muscles respond.” “Can you do the same?” came the surprising challenge. “Of course,” responded the doctor as he lifted his hand in imitation of the swami’s gesture. “That is a simple action, and one which you can do without,” remarked the swami. “But as you are speaking with me your heart is beating, your lungs are expanding and contracting, your blood pressure and body temperature are being maintained, and all the functions necessary to maintain life are going on completely without either your conscious thought or conscious volition. Tell me, Mr. Doctor: Who is doing that? You need to seek out the one who is maintaining your life in this way. This is your true Self, and without knowing it you are nothing but a puppet.”

Now Dr. Mukherji was used to everyone treating him with respect and even deference because of his medical degree. As a consequence, he, too, had a rather good opinion of himself. But with these simple words the swami revealed the ignorant condition of all unenlightened human beings. Fortunately Dr. Mukherji became a disciple of this monk, and came to discover the identity of the inner warrior.

The warrior and the war

The inner warrior is our true Self, our divine “side” which knows quite well why it has come into this world, and if not hindered by the lower self it will accomplish the purpose of its incarnation: our perfection and enlightenment. It is only this inmost part of ourselves that can win the battle of life. What, then, is to stand aside to let this warrior fight? It is the lower self, revolving around our false ego, that must be put to one side if the inner warrior is to manifest and triumph.

Lest we mistake the nature of the war, thinking that it is an external process, the Master says: “Let him fight in thee.” All transformation, all true spiritual life, is an interior process, although it certainly is reflected in–and even supported by–external factors. But those who have nothing but external philosophizing and observance have not even entered the first gate of Gnosis. The Scribes written about in the Gospels were expert in the Talmudic laws and the Pharisees were painfully scrupulous in their observance of those laws, yet Jesus said: “Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The ego, being outside of us (that is, outside our true Self, the spirit), continually attempts to assert its dominance by luring us into externality and making us mistake it for spiritual realities. If it cannot succeed in this, it takes another tack and becomes extremely philosophical, attempting by a false non-dualism or an abstract “pure spirituality” to dissuade us from engaging in any outer disciplines which would facilitate our inner awakening.

The truth is, valid spiritual search involves a myriad of external actions and observances, that are expressions of spiritual awakening as well as the means to increase that awakening. True spiritual life does not consist in mere abstraction but requires objectification of any inner unfoldment. Yet, the objectifications are but indications and symptoms of spiritual progress, and not the state of evolution itself. As with most things, the truth falls between the two extremes.

3. Take his orders for battle and obey them.

The real battle is within, yet as has been indicated above, it is also reflected outwardly. The lower self needing to be transmuted, it is necessary that it also engage in the struggle–but only as an instrument of the higher Self. So, although it seems contradictory, the battle must be fought both inwardly and outwardly, yet it must be done with the consciousness of the spirit as the sole true doer.

Obviously we cannot take the orders of our higher self if we are not in touch with it and capable of “hearing” its directives. This is why “he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself” (I John 3:3). Unless the various energies that make up our many bodies are purified to the utmost extent, it is impossible for genuine spiritual communication to take place. However, purification through diet, reformation of life, and purity of morals, though essential, are not in themselves sufficient. The “ear” of our purified energies must become attuned to the voice of the spirit. For this, the practice of meditation is indispensable. And the supreme attunement and infusion of divine life is that of communion with and in the living Christ as accomplished through the Holy Eucharist and the other sacraments and practices of the Christian disciple.

Battle

Perhaps we should look at this expression: battle. Those who are “lovers not fighters” need not enlist in the ranks of the disciples of any religion, for all traditions indicate that the process of spiritual perfection is a great struggle to the death–the death of the ego and its attendant ignorance. Regarding the path of true perfection through inner and outer warfare, it can be said as truly as it was regarding the American westward expansion: “The weak died along the way, and the cowards never started.” Those who do not wish to struggle unto death/life cannot but fail if they take up this path. Note that I speak of those who do not wish to do so, for in truth there are none who are incapable of success in spiritual life, although this is a popular excuse of the willfully lazy and ignorant. The simple fact of being a human being guarantees our ability to attain spiritual perfection, if we will.

It is indeed true that merely being a human being does not enable us to engage successfully in this war, but it does mean that we can learn how to fight under the direction of the Self/spirit and not under the lying usurper, the ego. Some people become disciples but follow the wrong commander. Letting themselves be attuned back to the ways of earth, they begin to heed the voice of the not-self and swear allegiance to it. And like the folly it is, it leads them into death rather than life.

“Which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish” (Luke 14:28-30).

Self-examination

Therefore the aspirant to discipleship should at the outset examine himself to see if he has the necessary disposition of will to accomplish his desire. He should know that the “price” is not paid in dribbles or installments, but that from the beginning he must lay all upon the line without reservation. Those who hope for a close-out sale, layaway plan, or installment plan in spiritual life have simply not understood its–and their–nature. Nor should it be thought that the disciple can take time out in this battle to indulge the egoic desire for cessation of struggle. Just as the worthy soldier is a soldier every moment of his life and is at all times on call, so the disciple must always be in readiness for the battle. In fact, he should be perpetually engaged in the battle. Just as a soldier never forgets his vocation, neither can the disciple. There are myriads of spiritual Simple Simons wandering about, but few are those who possess the penny to obtain the pie. So by employing this terminology the Master indicates the serious and total commitment necessary for spiritual attainment.

Obeying the orders

“And obey them.” It is easy to understand that if soldiers fought according to their own style whenever and wherever they felt it was “the right thing,” there would not only be no victory, there would be annihilation. It is essential that soldiers hear the orders and obey. There is no place in battle for argumentation, discussion, or demands for justification of the orders. Fortunately, in spiritual life his intelligence is employed by the disciple, and in a viable spiritual system as much information as possible is imparted by the teachers. Yet, there are areas and periods of spiritual life in which the inexperienced disciple cannot intellectually comprehend the whys and wherefores of the fight. At this point the greatest amount of will power must be exerted. That is, the disciple does not surrender his intelligence and will and meekly acquiesce to incomprehensible orders, but rather with full determination he must move ahead without hesitation, and discover by himself the intention and meaning of the commands received. Because of this, throughout the lives of those who have attained the spiritual heights we find that they have had at times to do things which appeared to their inexperienced minds as utterly futile, absurd, or even dangerous. Yet, having performed those required acts, they reaped great benefits. Let me give three examples known to me personally:

1) A man with severe gastro-intestinal illness appealed to an Indian saint for help. The saint’s advice was that he eat in large quantities those items which his physician had told him would be fatal for him. He did so unhesitatingly, and was immediately and permanently cured.

2) An acquaintance of mine had lived in Warsaw, Poland. Being very poor, he and a friend frequently slipped into the estate of a wealthy man and caught fish. They knew that this was a most risky thing to do, because anyone caught would be given the severest sentence by the judges because of the rich man’s political influence. The verdict of guilty and severe penalty was assured for anyone caught poaching. The two boys were caught, indicted, and a court date was set, though they were allowed to go free. Sure that they would be given a heavy jail sentence, especially because they were Jews, they appealed to a renowned Hasidic rabbi who told them to search through Warsaw and find the smallest padlock available. They followed this seemingly nonsensical directive and for two weeks spent their days and nights searching for the smallest padlock they could find. The rabbi told them that one of them should have this padlock in his pocket when they went into the courtroom. They did so, and the judge threw the case out of court and severely rebuked the wealthy man to his face for treating the young men so harshly.

3) A monastic novice woke up one morning in terrible pain, hardly able to move. By forcing himself he managed to get to the abbot’s room, though once there he could not describe to him what he felt, because his teeth were literally chattering from the pain. Instead of showing sympathy, the abbot complained at him for wasting his time, and then in a disgusted though offhanded way commented that perhaps he just needed a drink of water! Although it was a tremendous struggle, the novice managed to get down the stairs and into the kitchen where he drank a glass of water. As the water drained down his throat, the pain drained completely away.

Will is the secret

What was the secret of these three incidents? It was not obedience in the negative sense of canceling out one’s intelligence and individual will. Rather, it was the exercise of will in the understanding that there are higher laws which operate within our lives. Also, the act of will linked the consciousness of the “obedient” to the enlightened will of the one giving the directions, and this alignment made healing and help possible.

For a person unacquainted with modern ways, the idea that light can be produced by the flipping of a switch is idiotic. To the inexperienced, the idea that the voice or image of a person on the other side of the world can be produced by turning a knob on a radio or television set seems equally mad. Those who first tried to fly failed because they quite logically imitated the only flying creatures they knew: birds. When a completely different process was employed using the principles of aerodynamics, human beings were able rise into the air and fly. It is senseless to think that several hundred people can fly in a steel contraption weighing many tons, but they do. Human beings now accomplish numberless goals because they have discovered the laws for their accomplishment. But before the discovery of those laws, such accomplishments were considered “against nature.” Thus, although many of the hidden laws of spiritual evolution are revealed to the disciple, the time does come–more than once–when the disciple must discover further laws on his own. And the gateway to those discoveries is the willful following of the higher commands.

Plain facts about battle

Again let us look at the implications of “Take his orders for battle.” As has already been stated, the aspirant must be ready for struggle and effort. There are those who expect that becoming disciples will put an end to all their troubles both internal and external. There is a great bid in the pseudo-spiritual world for “peace” of all kinds. But any true spiritual path involves internal warfare. Those who instead want the peace which one modern philosopher has described as “the feverlessness of a corpse” should not approach the fires of discipleship.

Further, since the warfare is internal–so also must we understand the enemy to be internal. Looking within ourselves we find with Saint Paul that we are morally divided. Here is how he outlines the thoughts of an disciple that has awakened to his inner conflict:

“The law is spiritual: but I am carnal [physical, fleshly], sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?…So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:14-25).

Interior division

One part of us tends toward the light that is spirit, and one part of us tends toward the darkness that is our ego. As long as there is no sustained spiritual endeavor, the spiritual sleeper has no problem. He may simply attend one of the exoteric churches to pay his “dues” to God and go away having been entertained by the singing of the choir, challenged and uplifted by the words of the preacher, and secure in the feeling of being part of a community. In other words, he can go away “feeling good” about himself and utterly satisfied. But those who would awake and arouse themselves for the journey into light experience something quite different, for immediately the resistance of their dark side comes into play and they have to confess with the cartoon character, Pogo: “We have met the enemy, and he is us!”

This is not pleasing to the ego and, having been assiduously avoided for ages, everything will be done to deny it. This is why the “good” and the “virtuous” assiduously avoid real spiritual life. Under the veil of noble philosophy and occasional good deeds, they conceal the enemy hidden within their own breast. But it cannot be so for the disciple. Rather, there must be a direct facing of all elements of darkness and ignorance that nest within our own hearts. And that darkness and ignorance must be dispelled. There are no cease-fires, no compromises, no peace treaties in the disciplic life. The enemy must be destroyed. (Actually, that which momentarily appears as darkness is transmuted into light, but in the eyes of the ego, the master of that darkness, it appears to be destruction and death.)

Dual vision

So right away the disciple must learn to do two contradictory things: squarely face his inner negativity and ruthlessly war with it, and at the same time keep his eyes on the perfection of God rather than his own imperfection. One ploy of the ego is to get the disciple to become discouraged over his inner evil, and to make him identify with it through shame. While the spectacle of our inner cesspool(s) is quite horrible, we must view the inner filth in the perspective of God’s holiness–a holiness which is essentially ours and which we must consciously reclaim. We are indeed weak, and must have the good sense to realize it. Yet we must not identify with our weakness but with the conquering strength of God and our true spirit-Self. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9). “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

We war against disease because we are aware of the possibility of health and have that goal in mind. Our real interest is not the disease or even the short-term goal of its annihilation, but rather the establishment of our health which is our natural–and therefore rightful–state. This must be the perspective and attitude of the disciple. If we establish this perspective, then the inner carnage, though not pleasant, will yet be neither discouraging nor overwhelming to us.

Battle talk

It should also be understood that the voice of the higher Self will speak to us only of the battle, and the same is true of those teachers illumined by their own higher Self. I mention this because there are those who want to get everything from spiritual life except spiritual life. They demand that their higher consciousness and external spiritual teachers give them the means to obtain their desires–all the way from personal health to political dominance. While the fraudulent ego and fraudulent teachers cheerfully comply with these demands (as they must, since they give no true spiritual enlightenment or directive), the higher Self and the saints of God do not. Nor will the higher Self and the saints assist us in roving pointlessly through the realms of the psychic. Those who seek lesser attainments than those of the spirit shall find their own higher Self and the saints of no avail.

Many years ago I met a woman who approached a highly developed yogi with a question. “I want to know just one thing,” she told him. “Can you help me grow a new set of teeth?” When diplomatically told that this was not his specialty (!), she went away without a backward glance. Those who seek for spiritual life must determine that they will be satisfied with nothing else than life in the spirit. And they should expect to receive nothing else.

Face-to-face realization of Truth gives one intuitive conviction and true vision and understanding. True wisdom gives power, for knowledge is the energy that moves the Cosmic Factory. Wisdom produces power over all things and power declares the absolute authority of infallible Truth. Jesus, unlike the scribes, spoke, not with the false authority of fanaticism or imagination, but with the authority born of realization of God and a knowledge of all His mysteries.

But what about Jesus’ assertion: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33)? It means exactly what it says. Our seeking must be for the kingdom of God–that is, the realm of spirit–alone. If we truly have this as our only goal, then the supreme Spirit will Itself supply everything that we need–but not a single unneeded thing that we may merely desire. Since we are dealing with omniscience, it is impossible to deceive It into thinking that we are seeking for the highest alone when in reality we are only pretending to do so in the hopes that we shall get the promised “perks.” Here, too, God is not mocked, and we reap only what we actually sow. In Jane Eyre we read of the little boy who, when asked if he would rather learn a verse of the Psalms or be given a cookie, always said that he preferred the Psalm to the cookie, and as a consequence received two cookies. He was held up as a spiritual example by his foolish and vain father who did not realize that the boy had simply caught on to the strategy for getting cookies. Such things cannot take place in true spiritual life. We must decide what we want and go after it. And we must go after it in the right place.

About OCOY.org

This site presents the path of meditation and practical spiritual life and is a service of Light of the Spirit Monastery (Atma Jyoti Ashram), which is located in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, USA.

Dedication of OCOY.org

This site is inspired by and dedicated to Paramhansa Yogananda, who introduced yoga meditation and the goal of self realization to the American people, and whose writings reveal the underlying unity of original Christianity and original Yoga.